Ahh safaris...don't they just embody all that Africa has to offer? NO. Good Heavens, no. But I'd be lying if i said i didn't have a blast on the safari we went on at Queen Elizabeth's Game Park in a beautiful corner of western Uganda. It was a pretty awesome way to experience nature, and if you know me, you know i love to experience nature!
It took pretty much ten hours to drive from Mukono to the reserve park, partially because of getting lost and partially because we were stopped by some silly elephants with their young, who apparently could have mauled our bus had we tried to cross their path ( we had a ridiculously humorous argument as to whether we should cross or not,, back of the bus in favor- front of the bus very against it! I think it would have added some excitement to our trip!). We finally got into the park and set up our especially cozy tents. While in my tent trying to sleep on rocks (and other various pieces of earth) I noticed grunting noises that seemed rather close. It was the precious little warthogs feasting on the grass around our tent. I could lie and tell you that it was soothing to fall asleep to grunting warthogs, but come on, that's nasty!
The next morning we actually got to go on our first safari! We took our bus and were joined by a pretty awesome tour guide. We got to see a whole bunch of animals that don't normally cross your path in the US of A. Elephants (and lots of them), Ugandan Cobs, mongooses?, buffaloes, water bucks, warthogs, hippos, many birds that have special names i don't know, and a lion or two-just to name a few! In the afternoon we took a boat safari, which i suppose was just delightful. After being on a bus or boat with 30 girls, i decided i needed some time to be a little secluded from crazy, so four of us decided to splurge on dinner at the lodge (it cost 35,000 Ushillings- the equivalent of $18....completely worth it). Best dinner of my life, not kidding. We ate it while looking out on Lake Edward, Lake Albert, and the mountains of the Congo- talk about nice atmosphere. After our little gluttonous interlude we decided to walk back to our tents. On our dark walk back there we met a few warthogs just hanging out and, oh yes, a hippo! I would like to think that the beasty could have eaten us alive and that's why I almost peed my pants (just in case you were wondering, hippos kill more humans than lions do, making them the most dangerous animal in Africa!!)...but don't worry it had its bootay to us and never turned to attack. It did graze frighteningly close to our tents the rest of the night, though.
The next morning was a beautiful and glorious Palm Sunday. We went on a quick safari and saw two lions! Sweet. It was quite a different way to celebrate this holiday, outside the church- in the heart of God's great creation. So i suppose if you go to Africa, i would recommend going on a safari...but i would recommend doing a lot more than just that, otherwise you will lose out on a whole cultural/African experience. Animals are cool, but people rock way harder.
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